Micheal Flaherty, President of Walden Media, will be a special guest of Asbury College’s Engaging Culture Weekend, April 23-24.
Flaherty will speak in chapel services April 24 at 10 a.m. in Hughes Auditorium. Later that afternoon he will hold a special forum with Asbury College’s C.S. Lewis Scholar, Dr. Devin Brown, titled “Spiritual and Character Lessons from the Narnia Films.” He is also serving a judge for the weekend’s Highbridge Film Festival on April 25.
Prof. Greg Bandy, who produces the Engaging Culture Weekend under the sponsorship of a Lilly Grant, underlines the impact of Flaherty’s presence. “We’re incredibly excited to have Micheal Flaherty as our special guest for this weekend. We’ve been working with Walden Media for several years for good reason. We share their values for stories that matter. Also, Mr. Flaherty has a distinguished background as a visionary educator. We’ve had some good synergies as a result.”
In 2006, Asbury College’s media communications program produced the award-winning “Amazing Grace: The William Wilberforce Story” educational resource DVD with Walden Media/Bristol Bay Productions. The DVD was a predecessor to the 2007 release of the motion picture.
Flaherty co-founded Walden Media in 1999 with his former college roommate, Cary Granat. Walden’s mission is to rekindle curiosity and recapture imagination through the development and production of family films and literature. Walden has financed and produced a number of films, such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Charlotte’s Web, Bridge to Terabithia, Holes, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. Through its publishing division, Walden has also co-published a number of award-winning books, including Mike Lupica’s Comeback Kids series and the New York Times bestseller Savvy by first-time author Ingrid Law.
As part of its mission, Walden creates innovative educational programs, lesson plans and events. Several hundred thousand students have participated in these events, including an international effort to read Charlotte’s Web aloud and to collect toys for Toys for Tots; both initiatives broke world records. Walden has also hosted an interactive writing workshop with Louis Sachar and a national robotics competition with James Cameron.
Flaherty is on the board of Rachel’s Challenge, a program created in memory of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine shootings. He is also a member of the Global Advisory Council of Vision360, an organization dedicated to supporting and founding churches across the country.
Flaherty lives in Lexington, Mass., with his wife, Kelly, son, Christian, daughters Eileen and Reagan, and dog, Jumbo.
